Short Business: Turns out, writing regularly is hard even when there's no place to go

[bookgazing]

Monday

So, I was flagging a little this week because did you know reading a short story a day is easy, but writing about them regularly so you don't have to do a big catch up writing session at the end of the week is very much not even when you aren't allowed to leave your house? Who could have predicted this??! But then I realised, I'd read a novella as part of Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon at the weekend, AND I'd already written about it! Score!

So, even though I didn't actually read it on Monday I'm using Prime Meridian by Silvia Moreno-Garcia as my Monday story. Lock down means no rules, in case you hadn't heard.

Here's my review of Prime Meridian in full, and here's a quick snippet:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has created a science fiction novella grounded in the real difficulties of life; a dream of the stars for readers well acquainted with the precariousness of living life money transfer to money transfer, well aware of all the barriers between them and space flight. And by granting Amelia a happy ending, an ending full of possibility created by the classic hail mary introduction of a generous benefactor, Moreno-Garcia also fills this novel with hope.

Short version - I really, really liked it, and if you like science fiction grounded in real life struggles and detail I think you'll like it too. This one isn't available online, but it is in print and available for purchase.

Tuesday

Next up, I read three stories from Strange Horizons. Two are from their Climate Change special issue, including "Three Days With The Kid" by Tara Calaby. Calaby has written a solid dystopian story set in a world where access to water has dried up, and led to a series of water wars. "Three Days With The Kid" feels like it fits snuggly into a well-established literary niche of stories about men, hardened by the experience of living in desperate times, picking up an unlikely child sidekick (see Logan, The Vagrant, and a whole bunch of westerns).

The narrator, a trans man named Edward, meets Rosie, a kid whose parents have gone 'into the hills to look for water'. Sure that Rosie's parents have died, Edward takes her in the opposite direction. The two set out on what I keep wanting to call a road trip, or a dystopian adventure, despite the fact that those phrases seem a little too upbeat to describe a story where a child shoots a group of attackers dead. There's a lot of jeopardy, pain, and fear in this world. The two characters walk through a land ravaged by drought and war. Edward's wife has died, and it's clear he's lost a lot as he remembers the days before the rains stopped. And, whatever the truth, the two look like vulnerable targets to the 'parchers'; bands of scavengers who roam the world. However, the tone of Edward's narration is light and conversational. It's full of the low-key, quiet, knowingness I associate with those gruff, typical male narrators I mentioned at the start. And that tone has a way of softening the horrors of the world being described.

I really liked the fact that when Edward sees Rosie for who she really is, rather than the idealised innocent he's trying to protect, they start to communicate. As the story moves towards its conclusion, you sense that their growing relationship is only going to get richer from here as Edward mourns the life Rosie should have had, and yet accepts that 'It’s unfair, it’s so unfair, but all we can do is walk.' And the ending, while limited in its scope, as is appropriate for a story where the characters live day to day in uncertain circumstances, has enough promise in it to qualify as hopeful.

Wednesday

I think "Dirty Wi-fi" by Porpentine Charity Heartscape confirms that I just don't understand the cyberpunk genre, especially when it's trying to do new and exciting things that weave in our modern technological lives. While reading this story I would get a few flashes of clarity, a few 'I understood that reference' moments, but on the whole I finished with no real, solid understanding of the story or strong feelings about it. I know it's about digital inequality, general inequality, gentrification, and the way technology fractures all kinds of experiences. Otherwise, I've got very little insight into this one. Just a case of 'not for me' I think, but if you've got more interesting thoughts on this story sling them into the comments because I'd love to hear them.

Thursday

The last story I read from Strange Horizons this week was "The Longest Season In The Garden of The Tea-Fish" by Jo Miles which features a crisis set in a world where a grove of sentient tree-people are sustained by their connection to magical tea-fish. I know, right?! Who saw that combination coming?

There were so many things I enjoyed about this imaginative story. The fantasy world was like nothing I've ever read before. The 'Uprooted' spark connections to other stories about magical trees, and dryads, but I can honestly say I've never seen fish used as a magical energy source before. I loved the story's themes which were all about family, responsibility, community, safe-guarding culture, and tradition. As always, I enjoyed seeing a matriarchal society in fantasy. I loved the substance of the plot, and how much jeopardy was baked into the story of a lone heroine. If I'm reading a story about 'the one keeper of the flame' I prefer it to be a story about what a hard, and precarious, task that person would have rather than a story about how destiny makes a path for a chosen one. So, the progression of this plot was right up my alley. And, I loved the mother daughter relationship at the centre of this story; especially how it talked about the conflict between individual happiness, respect, and the good of the community. I really recommend this story, especially if you like short fiction with a strong connection to nature and gardening.

Friday

I finished the week up with some flash fiction, which is proving a super useful form when it comes to managing to read, and write, about five short stories every week. "Mirrored" by Jennifer Hudak bounced across my timeline, probably because someone I follow liked it although I'm not sure (who even knows how Twitter sends me things anymore). I am super easy when it comes to short fiction with even a hint of classic fairy tales in the title, and I'm glad I am because this piece is a changeling story which is one of my very favourite types of fae tale.

In Hudak's story, a changeling who was spotted and sent away is stuck on the opposite side of a mirror mouthing the words and actions of the girl who got to stay in the real world. She watches the ingratitude of the human girl, and senses the sorrow of the mother as the child begins to grow. And on the wrong side of the mirror the changeling makes a plan.

There's more than a little light horror to the story, and perhaps a little bit of a Labyrinth vibe as it deals with a fae creature taking advantage of the growing pains, and mistakes, of a young girl. It provides a really interesting take on this kind of story as it's told from the changeling's perspective, and acknowledges the mother's pain as her daughter grows apart from her as the daughter grows up. The fact that the mother may be ready to swap her flesh and blood daughter for a changeling who remains unchanged actually adds to the horror a little bit.

"Mirrored" is quite unsettling, and that feeling is underlined by Hudak's use of natural imagery to describe the changeling who is 'made of mud and moss and spider webs and dew'; individual elements that could each speak of positive and wholesome childhood experiences outdoors or a murky, creepy creation. The use of specific physical detail like 'The incisor that's slightly askew' is also a nice touch. Asking the reader to focus closely on quite a normal image can push them to bring up all kinds of associations which skews the image into something more. And the ambiguity of the ending left me afraid for everyone involved; doubting whether the changeling, who I'd come to empathise with in such a short space of time, would actually make a good fist of life whether she stepped outside of the mirror or pulled her mother inside of it. Can you ever trust the fae even if you like them?





Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time

You can order copies of Prime Meridian by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (and other books including Gods of Jade And Shadow) anywhere online that's still shipping. On a personal note, if you're buying physical books, please support book shops by ordering through their sites, as long as you're sure these shops are able to work safely at this time. Alternatively, Hive and Bookshop.org are set up to pass a portion of profits along to indie book shops.

You can find out more about Tara Calaby, Porpentine Charity Heartscape, Jo Miles and Jennifer Hudak at their websites.

Finally, a great way to support short fiction authors in general is to support the places that publish them. Consider picking up a subscription to a short fiction magazine, or buying an individual issue.

Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here.